The world is complex and dangerous. Most people are asleep and unaware of what's happening right in front of their eyes. Governments become police states to increase control over our daily lives. Man and nature continuously produce disasters that the vast majority of people are totally unprepared for. Economic depression, mass third world migration, hurricanes, societal collapse, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, civil war. They happen everyday. It's time for an awakening. It's time to prepare.

Monday, February 23, 2015

To complete my posts on the List of Lists, I'll leave you with a few websites you can use to meet like-minded people and discuss survival-related topics. These sites will teach you a lot and open your eyes to the need for a survival mindset.

The ability to filter and purify water for drinking and other uses is often overlooked because, frankly, it's a boring topic. However, it's possibly the most important. Storing enough water to last any significant period of time is also daunting in it's requirements. I recommend storing an ABSOLUTE MINIMUM of one gallon per person per day. Let say you have three people in your family. You hope to last 30 days? That's 90 gallons for just one month. That's if you all plan to drink the minimum, bathe rarely and cook two or less meals per day. That's your minimum amount needed, but I recommend storing above that amount. As much as possible.

Portable filtration system

Purification tablets

Iodine tablets

Water bottles & canteens

Metal containers for boiling

Water jugs and storage barrels

Eventually that storage WILL run out. So it's imperative to be able to obtain water after the faucets stop and the storage runs out. Creating your own or buying a water catchment system (especially in areas of the country will predictable, reliable and regular rains) will generally solve the problem. Here are just two choices when you search on the internet for "water catchment systems":

http://www.arcsa.org/

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Water/Water.htm

I also highly recommend purchasing filtration systems from a company called Berkey. There are many places online to purchase the Berkey portable water filtration systems. Look through their options to find the right size for your family.

In a long term survival situation, vehicles are likely going to have a short life. Unless you have the ability to set up your own mechanic shop and stock several extra parts for every situation, your vehicle will probably become an immovable barricade at some point. In a short term situation, you can keep your vehicle operational. For the long term situation, the key is to find a balance between saving your vehicle use to prolong it's life and using it for times when you really need it. Having these items will extend it's usefulness as a rolling vehicle and delay that point at which it becomes a roadblock.

Having tools at your BOL is obviously important. You're going to need to be able to handle all repair jobs that you may have normally called someone else to do. You'll need to acquire the knowledge you need to safely and effectively use these tools. Don't be afraid to buy extras. You'll notice I made everything on this list plural for that reason. Tools are made to take hard work, but they won't always be able to handle that forever.

Multitools

Various survival knives

Shovels

Hand shovels

Rakes

Hammers

Screwdrivers

Wrenches and sockets

Sharpening instruments for knives and edged tools

Axe & hatchets

Bolt cutters

Hand saws (hacksaws & blades)

Chains

Ropes

Work gloves

Machetes

Various nails & screws

In a survival situation, make sure to be extra careful using anything with an edge. Small cuts can result in infection and death when you have zero chance of getting medical care.

I'm getting toward the end of our list of lists posts and today I'll go over the tactical living section. This section lists some items you'll need to live and operate in an environment that may not be as secure and comfortable as a secured home.

550 cord

Camouflage clothing & hats

Combat style boots

Cold weather clothing

Wet weather clothing

Mosquito nets

Sleeping bags

Red lense flashlights

Range cards and sector sketches

Topographical grid maps of the local area

Compass

Protractor

All weather dome tents

Camoflage netting

Binoculars

Ponchos

Waterproof tarps

Chem lights

Camelbaks

Pistol holsters and long gun cases

These items can also be very important once the S has HTF and you feel the need to do some recon and scouting of the area around your bug out location (BOL). Having a topographical grid map of you area along with a compass and protractor will allow you to move through or around terrain. The US military uses 1:25,000 or 1:10,000 scaled maps. I recommend going to a website such as www.mytopo.com and purchasing a map with your BOL close to the center of it. I also recommend buying topo maps for the surrounding areas. I will be acquiring one with my BOL and one map for each area surrounding it, N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W and NW. That will give me a large map board made of three rows of three maps with my BOL map at the center.

Excellent information on how to make a range card can be found here: http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/Leadersbook_information/Combat_Leaders_Guide/defend-range-card-prepara-2.shtml